Blues harpist Brandon Santini spreads his wings on The Longshot

At the age of 15, Brandon Santini discovered the harmonica skills of John Popper, the leader of jam-band Blues Traveler.

Purists might balk, but there are certainly worse gateways to the blues than that New Jersey band, who became unlikely rock stars in the mid-1990s.

What followed is common in the blues. Santini would buy his first harmonica after realizing that Popper was doing things on the instrument that Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Alanis Morissette’s primitive playing never prepared him for.

As is the case with many musicians who will eventually go on to embrace purer forms of the genre, the Memphis-based Santini used Popper’s prowess as a starting point. He then went back in time.

“I checked out who all his influences were, his blues guys,” says Santini, in an interview with Postmedia from his tour van earlier this week.“I checked out all those guys; guys like Paul Butterfield and James Cotton and Little Walter. I fell in love with that stuff. It’s pure and it’s very heartfelt.”

He bought his first harmonica at the age of 15. In 2003, Santini founded the band Delta Highway and moved from North Carolina to Memphis. Under his own name, he recorded three straight-ahead blues albums. That included 2015’s Live and Extended!, captured during a particularly fiery set at a festival in Quebec City.

But at the age of 36 — a relative newborn in the world of blues — he felt the need to stretch.

“The blues genre is kind of a tough genre,” says Santini, who will be playing Mikey’s on 12th on Aug. 21. “I don’t think we’re regenerating the audience as much as we need to. It’s getting really tough, especially for traditional blues bands. So I wanted to try something else that may give more security and longevity in this business.”

Which is how the musician’s fourth record, The Longshot, became more a song-based enterprise. The reasoning was not purely mercenary. Santini said he was keen to explore his own songwriting skills, having always considered himself more of a blues musician than songsmith. But he was inspired by the retro-soul work of Nathaniel Rateliff and Americana craft of Lukas Nelson.

Which doesn’t mean the blues are ignored or that Santini’s spirited harp-playing takes a back seat on the record, which came out in March. Santini still considers himself “all about the groove, for the most part.” While harmonica doesn’t blow into snarling opener Don’t Come Around Here until the half-way point, it quickly becomes the the main attraction as it hurdles over a thumping bass line. The acoustic ballad, One More Day, benefits from both Santini’s smoky vocals and the howling despair of his harmonica.

“I think, honestly, there are so many amazing harmonica players nowadays who pushing the envelope and stretching the boundaries and the limits,” he says. “I think that’s a very inspiring thing to me. I hear things every day when I’m listening to music or watching videos on YouTube where I’m like ‘Wow, that’s super cool. I want to know how to do that.’ Even with the little accomplishment I’ve had, I still am out here to learn and better myself.”

So, while Santini may stray into the more commercially viable world of blues-rock every now and then, his heart still belongs to the blues. For all its stylistic segues, The Longshot still managed to debut at No. 7 on the Billboard blues charts upon its release.

And Santini says he never loses the spiritual connection to the old blues masters — Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Robert Johnson.

“You can hear their suffering,” says Santini. “The stuff they’ve been through is more than a 37-year-old white guy, a kid like me, is going to ever go through. Those guys grew up in a time that was very tumultuous with lots of discrimination and hate. So they’ve been there, done that. They’ve got a lot of pain and you can feel that being poured out into their music.”

“Of course, those guys had great harmonica players with them, too,” he adds.

This Week's Flyers

Comments

Postmedia is pleased to bring you a new commenting experience. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.